How can I reuse or recycle old socks?

Mine hole at the heel and toe, lose all elasticity around the ankle then drain of colour.

When they’ve gone past the not-even-on-washing-day-when-every-other-sock-is-dirty stage, we usually just throw them in the dirty rag bag for using when something gross needs cleaning up. But even with all the gross (feline-related) things that happen in our house, we still have a huge stack of odd and broken socks.

Ideas?

Best Suggestions

Reduce: If you can afford them, buy good quality socks to start with – they’ll last a lot longer – keeping their shape and colour – and save money/resources over all. Fix small holes when they appear too – it’s a lot easier and neater to fix smaller ones than big ones.

Reuse: Socks are perfect for cleaning rags – slip a old sock over your hand and use it as a duster.

Recycle: If they’re clean, they can be shredded and used as stuffing in toys and draft excluders.

See the comments below for more suggestions and ideas

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52 Responses to “How can I reuse or recycle old socks?”

If you’ve got a lot of them, you could use them as stuffing for cushions or soft toys. Or if you’re making small soft toys, you could use the sock as a lining for the stuffing so if you have to wash the outside of the toy, you can easily take the stuffing out without fluff going everywhere.

Hello all!
Take a long sock (man socks are better for this idea as they seem to get magically so much longer than girl socks), put an apple/rock/kumquat (use your imagination) in the end and use it as a weapon (think swinging it round your head whilst shouting and whooping) and scare off all the annoying kids in your garden.

I was “fortunate” enough once to read one of those weekly magazines printed to furnish waiting rooms the world over. You know, the ones with pictures of celebritys with no make up on shopping in Poundland or something.

On a tips page someone had suggested using old socks as garden mittens. Ideal for general weeding etc. I use them as mittens for cleaning parts of the car dashboard aswell, if your fingers can reach you can clean it !

i really like this idea and will set one up before i start gardening this weekend. i really hate trapsing mud into the kitchen and getting my kitchen soap all dirty but couldn’t work out the best way to leave soap near the hose.

This one is better for old tights or stockings, but long socks will do. Put a tennis ball in the toe section, stand with your back against the wall. Swing the ball from side to side so that it bounces backwards and forwards. you can vary the directions for more fun,eg., over the head, under the leg. Will keep kids amused for a while!

If they are tube socks and you have a horseshoe-shaped toilet seat, youcan slip them on as seat covers. Sonds strange, I know, but feels good when it’s time to sit. And easily removed to wash when needed. If the elastic in the socks is gone, a rubber band will do.

I have used my little girl’s old socks that were too small to make little dresses for her barbies! Also good for making doll pillows and blankets….great for little doll houses. Or you can cut the upper part ( no elastic ) and cut in half and sew together to make quilt squares and give to charity.

Soak them in natural fabric cleaner, trim them if need be, snip off any stubborn crusty bits and us them as washable sanitary protection. Disposable sanitary products end up in landfills or in the sea, not to mention they contain nasty chemicals that no one would want next to their private parts!

Cut the toes and heel off leaving just the top. I use it as a sock hat for my dachshund. His ears crack and bleed in the winter. I just pull it over his snout towards his neck and his ears are totally protected.

Donate old clean socks to your local elementary school. Many use individual “dry erase white boards” during the day, and the socks are perfect for erasing the answers the child has written using dry erase markers. As an elementary teacher, I kept a pile of old socks next to the white board pile. I was able to take home the socks every few weeks, wash them, and they were good to go again.

hey, how about cutting the sock down the side and up to the tip of the toe, wrapping it round your wrist tightly and fastening it with a safety pin. this will make a great Elastic bandage! i know it works coz i’m wearing it right now as i have sprained my wrist but i couldn’t be bothered to go to hospital. u can fake an injury with it too, if you like getting attention…

Stretch the socks over the tops of your gumboots (wellingtons) to keep redback spiders and other nasties out.
Also, cut foot off socks and sew them into the inside of your child’s holes in the knees of their pants – especially good if socks have stripes or a design on them.

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